We are grateful to the Joanna McAfee Childhood Cancer Foundation for our new 2012 research grant of $12,000 for the project, "60 by 60: Finding the Very Best Targeted Therapy Combination for Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma". JMCCF is a very important organization not only for funding research, but also for supporting families of childhood cancer patients in central Georgia and beyond. 
We are pleased to Amy Paul join our laboratory as a new intern in pediatric oncology translational research. Amy is a recent graduate of the OHSU School of Nursing and will be functioning in important roles for our childhood tumor bank & registry as well as a canine personalized sarcoma therapy trial. 
In an incerdible development, ABC2 and CureSearch for Children's Cancer have jointly funded a supplement to the our international collaboration entitled, "Rapid Preclinical Development of a Targeted Therapy Combination for DIPG". The two new sponsor partners provide $76,000 and $25,000, respectively, for a total of $101,000. Their new supplement will allow us to exon sequencing of all 16 cell lines, their primary tumor and paired normal DNA via the laboratory of Dr. Paul Spellman (OHSU; see his recent functional genomics paper here). From this data we will prioritize combination drug testing on the most clinically ‘representative’ samples (i.e., samples that have classical DIPG findings which are in order: c‐MET amplification, p53 deletion, PDGFRA amplification, IGF1R/IGF2 amplification, CDK4/CDK6 gain or Shh pathway mutation, EGFR amplification or KRAS/NRAS mutation) or cell lines that are most similar overall to one another (i.e., not outliers).
Congratulations again to lab alumni Sachiko and Monika for the publication this month in the Journal of Neuro-Oncology of our study, "Bortezomib stabilizes NOXA and triggers ROS-associated apoptosis in medulloblastoma". Co-authors include lab alumni Tohru and Laura. This was a very exciting study funded by the National Brain Tumor Society and the Hyundai Motor Corporation Hope on Wheels Program (precursor studies were funded by St Baldrick's Foundation). These results have piqued our interest in similar compounds such as Carfilzomib for pediatric medulloblastoma. 
We are excited that Sangeet's pilot project proposal, " Chemokine Regulation of the Leptomeningeal Metastasis of Medulloblastoma " has been funded by the Knight Cancer Institute Translational Research Group and made possible by the Schnitzer Investment Corp. 
We are grateful to the The Lyla Nsouli Foundation for Children’s Brain Cancer Research for the $28,000 supplement to our TheCureStartsNow funded project entitled, "Rapid Preclinical Development of a Targeted Therapy Combination for DIPG". This supplement allows us to expand our six institution consortium in North America to include 2 other expert laboratories in Europe:
reposted from levinstory.com
While a difficult topic, there may be times where a cancer death can have more meaning by improving knowledge of the disease through tissue donations after life. For the first in a series of publications related to childhood cancer 'Legacy Gifts', see our co-authored paper in the journal Cancer entitled, "The clinical, research, and social value of autopsy after any cancer death: A perspective from the Children's Oncology Group Soft Tissue Sarcoma Committee". 
The last 2 days leaders in glioblastoma research have met in a special, collaboration-promoting summit sponsored by Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure (ABC2). Highlights include understanding the influence of metabolism on glioblastoma tumor cell fitness, the mechanism of action of thalidomide, and more. By far, the best aspect of this project was the community involvement (hence, accountability for collaboration) and the industry - academic interface that this environment creates. A very significant industry interest was expressed in DIPG (pontine gliomas). More news to come...
We are grateful to Denis Guttridge (Ohio State), David Glass (Novartis) and Markus Ruegg (University of Basel) for the opportunity to present our work on the epigenetic determinates of rhabdomyosarcoma at the 2011 International Conference on Molecular Mechanisms of Muscle Growth and Wasting in Health and Disease. Our laboratory's work was very well received, and new collaborations were established that take us into new, exciting multidisciplinary areas. 
Last night in Tulsa was the Scott Carter Foundation Big Show! that precedes the annual golf tournament fundraiser. Scott was a young boy who had osteosarcoma, but without regard for himself he was passionate that other children like his friend Addie should have better available treatments. He created an effort to raise money for childhood cancer research, and in his memory Scott's family and community annually raise funds that support the training of new research scientists, which have included Charles more than a decade ago, as well as our own lab's recent graduates: Koichi Nishijo, Jinu Abraham and Nicolle Hofmann. We are grateful to the Scott Carter Foundation for their support of our trainees and our research on sarcomas, including osteosarcoma. 
For a summary from Minnesota Public Radio on the promising tumor immunology approach of brain tumor researcher, Dr. John Ohlfest, click here. 
Our thanks go to the generous support of the family and community of Patrick Callahan, in whose memory Patrick lives on despite the 15 month battle with metastatic alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma that claimed his life at age 24. Patrick is remembered as a smiling and joyful young man (and dedicated Phillies fan), and it is in this spirit that "Patrick's Team" of Elaine and Janelle are pursuing a research project sponsored by the PMCMF to understand the process of alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma metastasis. 
We are sincerely grateful to Robyn Grossman and the community supporting Jared's Juggernaut to Cure Sarcoma for their recent, generous gift to support research of rhabdomyosarcoma. Jared was no stranger to challenges, making his way through adolescent and young adult life despite learning disabilities by graduating high school a year early and achieving a 3.4 college GPA (despite a 5 year battle with rhabdomyosarcoma). Jared was the best in us, and the inspiration to do more than we think is possible. Through the research support provided in his memory, we will work towards developing new rhabdomyosarcoma cell cultures enriched in tumor stem cells, and we will perform molecularly-targeted drug screen testing specifically of these metastasis-prone cells. This work will be done by our lab members Emma (left) and Jen (right), who will be "Jared's Team".
We are grateful to Matthew Nelson and the Wesley’s Cure for Cancer Research Foundation (WCCRF) for their recent generous donation that fuels our medulloblastoma cancer research. Inspired by the experiences of a young neighbor going through treatments for this aggressive brain tumor of childhood, Matthew created this grass-roots effort to honor Wesley and create hope that more effective, less toxic treatments might one day be available. 'Welsey's Team' in the Keller laboratory will use these funds to help test new, molecularly-targeted drugs for high risk and recurrent medulloblastoma. 
It was a pleasure to spend the past few days with liver biologist and fellow Capecchi lab alumnist, Ed Schmidt, and his lab, colleagues and family for a backcountry Montana retreat (hiking and camping trip, complete with pack donkeys). And yes, when scientists go camping we do talk a lot of science :) but the kids also get a special set of 'guides' to nature. 
We are grateful to the Thrasher Foundation for the Early Career Award to our AYA Fellow, Lara Davis. Her project, "Translating ex vivo osteosarcoma targeted drug sensitivity into improved survival" investigates personalized cancer therapy for this adolescent and young adult cancer - using pet dogs that spontaneously develop osteosarcoma as a model. Thrasher Foundation has a long tradition of funding pediatric medical research, in the tradition of its founder E.W. "Al" Thrasher. 
 The July issue of Runner's World magazine highlights Serena Burla, an elite runner, and her personal story of her fight against synovial sarcoma. The Runner's World special, Outrunning Cancer, includes "over 40 pages of content on the powerful link between running and cancer and how running races to benefit cancer charities has become a critical fundraising tool for charities" like the Northwest Sarcoma Foundation. |
To read more about Serena and her amazing story visit: |
We are excited to have rotation student, Rebecca Smith, join our lab team this Summer. 
We are excited to welcome postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Sangeet Lal, to the Keller laboratory. Sangeet brings expertise in malignant glioma tumor microenvironment and unique animal model to our laboratory & program. 
An emerging theme is that targeted (non-chemotherapy) drugs probably need to be given in combination for most solid tumors, and that the complexity of cancer and nearby non-cancerous tissue needs to be considered for targeted treatment, too.
Our thanks to all the speakers and thought leaders that participated in the COG-CNS Developmental Therapeutics (DVL) Symposium on Friday. This Children's Oncology Group special science symposium on childhood brain tumors was designed to bring together scientists and clinicians to create systematic approaches to integrating recent advances in brain tumor research and newly emerging preclinical resources to create tangible, actionable 6 month milestones. Organizers included Amar Gajjar (St Jude; Chair of COG-CNS cmte), Maryam Fouladi (Cincinnati Children's Hospital; co-chair CNS-DVL) and Charles Keller (OHSU; co-chair of CNS-DVL). Speakers were Jim Olson (Univ of Washington/FHCRC), Anita Hjelmeland (Lerner Institute/Cleveland Clinic), Xiao-Nan Li (Baylor/Texas Children's Cancer Center), Anang Shelt (St Jude), Clinton Stewart (St Jude) and Richard Gilbertson (St Jude). Particularly impressive were the special pharmacokinetic models from Dr. Stewart, the new preclinical models from Dr. Li, and the outstanding eppendymoma science from Dr. Gilbertson. It was an active session with important ideas from many thought leaders across North America, and importantly, an inclusive plan is in place to bring new drug (and new drug combinations) into effect for the most devastating of childhood brain tumors. 
